[ Act No. 1482, May 01, 1906 ]
AN ACT EXTENDING THE PROVISIONS OF THE ACCOUNTING ACT TO THE AUDIT OF ACCOUNTS OF MUNICIPAL AND TOWNSHIP TREASURERS BY DISTRICT AUDITORS AND AMENDING CERTAIN SECTIONS OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE, THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT ACT, THE SPECIAL PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT ACT, THE TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT ACT, AND THE ACTS RELATING TO THE ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT OF THE MORO PROVINCE, AND OTHER ACTS, WITH RELATION TO THE AUDIT OF PROVINCIAL AND MUNICIPAL ACCOUNTS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that:
Section 1. It shall be the duty of the district auditors created under the provisions of section ninety-six of the Accounting Act, within their respective districts, to audit and settle the accounts of all municipal and township treasurers. Such audit shall be under the direction of the Insular Auditor and his jurisdiction and that of the district auditors with relation thereto shall be the same as that governing the audit of the accounts of provincial treasurers, in so far as applicable. The district auditors shall certify the balances arising in the accounts settled by them to the Insular Auditor and to the proper provincial and municipal or township treasurer in such form as the Insular Auditor may prescribe.
Section 2. Act Numbered Eighty-two, known as "The Municipal Code," as amended, is hereby further amended as follows:
a. By adding at the end of paragraph (c) of section fourteen the following words:
"And provided further, That prior legal residence in the municipality shall not be required on the part of the treasurer or of a person temporarily performing the duties of treasurer."
b. By making paragraph (l) of section eighteen read as follows:
"(l) He shall appoint, by and with the consent of the majority of all the members of the council, the municipal secretary, and all non-elective officers and employees who may be provided for by law or by ordinance, with the exception of the municipal treasurer and the employees of his office, and at any time, for cause, he may suspend any such officer or employee thus appointed for a period not exceeding ten days, which suspension may be continued for a longer period by the council; and by and with the consent of a majority of all the members of the council he may discharge any such officer or employee.
"The municipal treasurer shall be appointed by the provincial treasurer, subject to the approval of the provincial board, and may be removed from office by the provincial board for cause. The position of municipal treasurer shall be classified and subject to all the provisions of the Civil Service Act and Rules.
"The municipal treasurer shall appoint such clerks and other . employees as are necessary to aid him in the discharge of his duties when the number and salaries thereof are determined in the manner provided by this Act. In case it shall appear that the number or salaries authorized by the municipal council are manifestly inadequate, it shall be within the power of the provincial board, on application, to modify the number or salaries fixed by the municipal council for such clerks or other employees. The municipal treasurer may, for cause, suspend from office any employee thus appointed and shall immediately notify the municipal council of any such action. The municipal council shall, within ten days after the receipt of this notice, take such action as the circumstances of the case may justify and order the reinstatement or the removal' from office of the suspended employee, or may confirm his suspension until full evidence in the ease can lie presented before the council and final action taken thereon. Where reinstatement is ordered, the municipal council may direct payment of compensation for all or any part of the period of suspension, but in case suspension results in a removal no compensation shall be paid from and after the date of such suspension.'"
c. By making paragraph (c) of section twenty-one read as follows :
"(c) He shall render such accounts as I he district auditor may require of him, subject to the approval of the Insular Auditor. An account of the transactions for each month shall be submitted to a standing committee to consist of the municipal president and two members of the municipal council, to be appointed by that body, which shall meet on or before the tenth day of each month. If the committee approves the account, it shall certify such approval on the face thereof, and if it disapproves the ( f) and (g) of this Act.”
d. By adding at the end of paragraph (e) of section twenty-one the following words:
"In the event that the provincial treasurer shall find that the municipal safe or strong box provided by the municipal council is not adequate properly, to protect municipal" funds and valuable papers from loss and that the municipality can afford to purchase a modern iron safe, lie shall request the municipal council to adopt a resolution authorizing the municipal treasurer lo purchase, from the Purchasing Agent a modern iron safe of sufficient size to contain all such funds and valuable papers as would ordinarily be required to be kept in the custody of the municipal treasurer in order to protect them from fire or theft and Hie municipal council shall adopt the resolution requested by the provincial treasurer."
e. By adding at the end of section twenty-two two new paragraphs lettered (h) and (i) as follows:
"(h) The municipal council, with the approval of the provincial board, may require that the municipal treasurer .shall, in addition to the regular duties of his office, perform the duty of municipal secretary, and shall fix the extra compensation which he shall receive therefor: Provided, That in no case shall the total salary received by the municipal treasurer from municipal funds exceed the limit fixed by law for salaries of municipal presidents; except as hereinafter provided. The eligibility of a municipal treasurer for his office shall be sufficient qualification for his performance of the duties of municipal secretary in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph.
"(i) When, by reason of exceptional circumstances, the maximum salary herein, authorized for any non elective municipal officer is found by the provincial board to be inadequate, that board may fix and the Executive Secretary approve such higher rate as may be necessary to secure and retain the services of a competent appointee, and such salary shall be paid from the funds of the municipality concerned, other provisions of this Act to the contrary notwithstanding."
f. By making paragraph (dd) of section thirty-nine read as follows:
"(dd) Fix penalties for violation of ordinances, but no single penalty shall exceed a fine of two hundred pesos or imprisonment for six months, or both; imprisonment shall be imposed in lieu of unpaid fines at the rate of one day's imprisonment for each peso of the fine: Provided, That persons undergoing imprisonment for violation of ordinances may be required to labor for the period of imprisonment upon public works of the municipality in such manner as may be directed by the municipal council: And provided however, That wherever a person is imprisoned for nonpayment of a fine he shall be released upon payment of such fine, less one peso per day for each day that he has been confined.1aшphi1 An appeal shall lie to the Court of First Instance next to be held within the province, in all cases where the judgment shall be for a fine exceeding fifteen pesos or for imprisonment exceeding fifteen days; and it shall be the duty of the provincial fiscal to appear for and represent the prosecution in such appealed cases. Pending the appeal the defendant shall remain in custody unless released upon sufficient bail in accordance with the general provisions of law, to await the judgment of the appellate court."
g. By striking out at the beginning of the fourth paragraph of section seventy-two the words:
''The books, accounts, papers, and cash of the municipal treasurer shall at all times be open to the inspection of the provincial treasurer or his deputy specially authorized for that purpose, and, at least once in every three months the office of each municipal treasurer shall be so examined. Tn ease such an examination discloses a shortage in the cash which should lie on hand, it shall be the duty of the provincial treasurer, or his deputy making the examination, to seize the cash, books, accounts, and papers, verifying the amount of cash so seized in the presence of at least two municipal councilors, or other municipal officers, who shall certify to the correctness of the amount so seized," and inserting in lieu thereof the following words:
"The books, accounts, papers, and cash of the municipal treasurer shall at all times be open to the inspection of the provincial treasurer or his deputy specially authorized for that purpose, and of the district auditor or his deputy, and at least once in every three months the office of each municipal treasurer shall be examined by the district auditor. For the purpose of making such examination he may use a special deputy of his own or a special deputy in the office of the provincial treasurer. In case such an examination discloses a shortage in the cash which should be on hand, it shall be the duty of the examining officer to seize the cash, books, accounts, and papers, verifying the amount of cash so seized in the presence of at least two municipal councilors or other municipal officers, who shall certify to the amount so seized."
h. By adding at the end of section seventy-four the following proviso:
"Provided, That in municipalities in which the municipal treasurer is constituted a deputy of the provincial treasurer under the provisions of section twenty-two thereof, as amended by Act Numbered Nine hundred and ninety-nine, the collection period for each year shall cover the entire three months ending on the day before the tax becomes delinquent."
Section 3. Act Numbered Eighty-three, known as "The Provincial Government Act," as amended, is hereby further amended as follows :
a. By striking out the following sentence contained in section four:
'"The accounts of such expenses of transportation, however, shall be audited by the provincial treasurer and approved by him before the same are paid."
b. By making paragraph (g) of section nine read as follows:
"The provincial treasurer shall render .such accounts as the district auditor may require of him and such accounts as the Insular Auditor may by general regulations require of all such treasurers."
c. By striking out of section ten the sentence:
"Copies of all contracts made by the supervisor with the approval of the provincial board shall be forwarded by the supervisor to the Insular Auditor." and inserting in lieu thereof the following sentence:
"Copies of all contracts approved by the provincial board shall be forwarded to the district auditor."
Section 4. Section one of Act Numbered Three hundred and twenty-six is hereby amended to read as follows:
"In all cases in which the district auditor, by reason of the provisions of this Act. shall take possession of the office of any provincial treasurer because of alleged defalcations in his office, such provincial treasurer shall ipso facto be suspended from the performance of his functions as a member of the provincial board and the district auditor placed in charge of the office, and such district auditor shall, during the time he is in charge of such office, be a member of the provincial board, with all the powers and duties appertaining to the provincial treasurer, and until the Governor-General shall designate some other person to perform the duties of member of the provincial board, which lie is hereby authorized to do."
Section 5. Act Numbered Four hundred and fifty-two is hereby amended by striking out the words "treasurer and'' in the second line of section one, and the words "treasurer and" in the first line of section two of said Act.
Section 6. The first paragraph of section one of Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and thirty-four is hereby amended to read as follows :
"Section 1. Provincial officers, their deputies, subordinates, and other employees shall be allowed the expenses of travel and subsistence while necessarily absent from their designated headquarters on official business as herein provided :"
Section 7. Section two of Act Numbered Thirteen hundred and thirty-four is hereby repealed, and section three of said Act is hereby amended to read as follows:
"Section 3. Payment of transportation and subsistence expenses in accordance with the provisions of this Act shall be made from the treasury of the province for the benefit of which the official travel was performed in the same manner as other provincial indebtedness is paid, with the exception that it shall lie required that the claimant state under oath, before an officer duly qualified to administer oaths, that the transportation expenses for which reimbursement is sought were actually and necessarily incurred at the time, in the manner, and for the purpose stated.1aшphi1"
Section 8. The provisions of paragraphs (b), (c), (d), (e), and (g) of section two and paragraphs (b) and (c) of section three of this Act are hereby made applicable to the provinces and townships organized under the Special Provincial Government Act and the Township Government Act in so far as they respectively relate to such provinces and townships, it being understood that the words "municipal" and "municipality" used in this Act are for the purposes hereof identical with the word "township" occurring therein. Provided, however, That the position of township treasurer shall not be classified and subject to the Civil Service Act and Rules.
Section 9. The provisions of paragraph (g) of section two and paragraphs (b) and (c) of section three of this Act are hereby made applicable to the Moro Province and the districts and municipalities thereof, it being understood that the term "provincial treasurer" used in this Act is for the purposes of this Act identical with either of the terms "provincial treasurer" or "district treasurer" occurring in the Acts relating to the Moro Province.
Section 10. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred.
Section 11. This Act shall take effect upon its passage except in so far as modified by section one hundred and twelve of the Accounting Act: Provided, That the provisions contained therein relating to the audit of municipal accounts by the district auditors shall be retroactive and effective as of January first, nineteen hundred and six.
Enacted, May 1, 1906.
The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation
